Intelligence

The Moroccan Competition Council is increasingly using remedies to address competition concerns in merger control reviews. Recent cases demonstrate the MCC's willingness to impose both structural and behavioral commitments, and actively enforce compliance through fines and monitoring.

Morocco's Ministry of Economy and Finance has created a new Observatory for Prices and Competition to enhance market monitoring capabilities. This organizational reform centralizes data collection and price analysis within the Ministry while maintaining the Moroccan Competition Council's independent enforcement authority. The restructuring raises questions about how these parallel monitoring and enforcement functions will interact in practice.

Morocco's industrial property statistics reveal significant increases in trademark applications, industrial designs, and patent filings during the first half of 2026. The data demonstrates growing commercial activity across pharmaceuticals, consumer products, and technology sectors, while universities drive nearly half of domestic patent applications.

Moroccan merger control operates through a dual-track system where the Competition Council conducts competition-based reviews while the government retains exceptional powers to intervene on broader public interest grounds.

Chinese automotive manufacturers and suppliers have invested over 10 billion euros in Morocco since the pandemic, establishing the country as their primary global manufacturing hub outside China. This strategic positioning just 14 kilometers from Europe is reshaping competitive dynamics as Chinese companies build a complete EV and battery value chain with privileged access to European markets through Morocco's extensive free-trade agreements.

The Casablanca Trade Court has issued what appears to be Africa's first standard essential patent ruling, interdicting two Transsion Holdings subsidiaries from selling 4G and 5G smartphones that infringe Ericsson...